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Document Number: 70899
S11-0975-Rev. B, 16-May-11
Vishay Siliconix
Si9168
This document is subject to change without notice.
THE PRODUCTS DESCRIBED HEREIN AND THIS DOCUMENT ARE SUBJECT TO SPECIFIC DISCLAIMERS, SET FORTH AT www.vishay.com/doc?91000
Product is End of Life 3/2014
DETAIL OPERATIONAL DESCRIPTION
PWM Mode
With PWM/PSM mode pin in logic high condition, Si9168
operates in constant frequency (PWM) mode. As the load
and input voltage vary, switching frequency remain constant.
The switching frequency is programmed by the ROSC value
as shown by the oscillator curve. In the PWM mode, the
synchronous drive is always enabled, even when the output
current reaches 0 A. In continuous current mode, the transfer
function of the converter remain constant providing fast
transient response. If the converter operates in
discontinuous current mode, overall loop gain decreases and
transient response time can be 10 times longer than if the
converter remain in continuous current mode. This transient
response time advantage can significantly decrease the
hold-up capacitors needed on the output of dc-dc converter
to meet the transient voltage regulation. Therefore, the
PWM/PSM pin is available to dynamically program the
controller. If the synchronous rectifier switch is not used, the
converter may not operate in PWM mode if the load current
is low enough to force the converter into pulse skipping
mode.
The maximum duty cycle of the Si9168 can reach 100 % in
buck mode. The duty cycle will continue to increase as the
input voltage decreases until it reaches 100 %. This allows
the system designers to extract out the maximum stored
energy from the battery. Once the controller delivers 100 %
duty cycle, the converter operates like a saturated linear
regulator. At 100 % duty cycle, synchronous rectification is
completely turned off. At up to 80 % duty cycle at 2 MHz
switching frequency, the controller maintains perfect output
voltage regulation. If the input voltage drops below the level
where the converter requires greater than 80 % duty cycle,
the controller will deliver 100 % duty cycle. This
instantaneous jump in duty cycle is due to fixed BBM time
and the internal propagation delays. In order to maintain
regulation, the controller might fluctuate its duty cycle back
and forth from 100 % to something lower than 80 % during
this input voltage range. If the input voltage drops further, the
controller will remain on for 100 % duty cycle. If the input
voltage increases to a point where it’s requiring less than 80
% duty cycle, synchronous rectification is once again
activated.
The maximum duty cycle under boost mode is internally
limited to 75 % to prevent inductor saturation. If the converter
is turned on for 100 % duty cycle, the inductor never gets a
chance to discharge its energy and eventually saturate. In
boost mode, the synchronous rectifier is always turned on for
minimum or greater duration as long as the switch has been
turned on. The controller will deliver 0 % duty cycle, if the
input voltage is greater than the programmed output voltage.
Because of fixed BBM time, the controller will not transition
smoothly from minimum controllable duty cycle to 0 % duty
cycle. For example, controller may decrease its duty cycle
from 5 % to 0 % abruptly, instead of the gradual decrease
seen from 75 % to 5 %.
Pulse Skipping Mode
The gate charge losses produced from the Miller
capacitance of MOSFETs are the dominant power
dissipation parameter during light load (i.e. < 200 mA).
Therefore, less gate switching will improve overall converter
efficiency. This is exactly why the Si9168 is designed with
pulse skipping mode. If the PWM/PSM pin is connected to
logic low level, converter operates in pulse skipping
modulation (PSM) mode. During the pulse skipping mode,
quiescent current of the controller is decreased to
approximately 350 µA, instead of 900 µA during the PWM
mode. This is accomplished by turning off most of the internal
control circuitry and utilizing a simple constant on-time
control with the feedback comparator. The controller is
designed to have a constant on-time and a minimum off-time
acting as the feedback comparator blanking time. If the
output voltage drops below the desired level, the main switch
is first turned on and then off. If the applied on-time is
insufficient to provide the desired voltage, the controller will
force another on and off sequence, until the desired voltage
is accomplished. If the applied on-time forces the output to
exceed the desired level, as typically found in the light load
condition, the converter stays off. The excess energy is
delivered to the output slowly, forcing the converter to skip
pulses as needed to maintain regulation. The on-time and
off-time are set internally based on the inductor used
(2 µH typical) and the maximum load current. Therefore, with
this control method, duty cycles ranging from 0 to 100 % are
possible depending on whether the boost or buck mode is
chosen.
Reference
The reference voltage for the Si9168 is set at 1.3 V. The
reference voltage is internally connected to the non-inverting
inputs of the error amplifier. The REF pin requires a 0.1 µF
decoupling capacitor.
Error Amplifier
The error amplifier gain-bandwidth product and slew rate are
critical parameters which determines the transient response
of converter. The transient response is function of both small
and large signal responses. The small signal response is
determined by the feedback compensation network while the
large signal is determined by the error amplifier dv/dt and the
inductor di/dt slew rate. Besides the inductance value, the
error amplifier determines the converter response time. In
order to minimize the response time, Si9168 is designed with
a 2 MHz error amplifier gain-bandwidth product to generate
the widest converter bandwidth and a 3.5 V/µs slew rate for
ultra-fast large signal response.